- New stadium gives Real Madrid a headache
- Alonso, Manaea shine as 'Miracle Mets' blitz Phillies
- Harris, Trump trade blows in US election media blitz
- Harry's Bar in Paris drinks to US straw-poll centenary
- Osama bin Laden's son Omar banned from returning to France
- Afghan man arrested for plotting US election day attack
- Brazil lifts ban on Musk's X, ending standoff over disinformation
- Harris holds slight edge nationally over Trump: poll
- Chelsea edge Real Madrid in Women's Champions League, Lyon win
- Japan PM to dissolve parliament for 'honeymoon' snap election
- 'Diego Lives': Immersive Maradona exhibit hits Barcelona
- Brazil Supreme Court lifts ban on Musk's X
- Scientists sound AI alarm after winning physics Nobel
- Six-year-old girl among missing after Brazil landslide
- Nobel-winning physicist 'unnerved' by AI technology he helped create
- Mexico president rules out new 'war on drugs'
- Israeli defense minister postpones trip to Washington: Pentagon
- Europe skipper Donald in talks with Garcia over Ryder return
- Kenya MPs vote to impeach deputy president in historic move
- Former US coach Berhalter named Chicago Fire head coach
- New York Jets fire head coach Saleh: team
- Australia crush New Zealand in Women's T20 World Cup
- US states accuse TikTok of harming young users
- 'Evacuate now, now, now': Florida braces for next hurricane
- US Supreme Court skeptical of challenge to 'ghost guns' regulation
- Sparks fly as Orban berates EU 'elites' in parliament trip
- US finalizes rule to remove lead pipes within a decade
- Solanke hungry for second England cap after seven-year wait
- Gilded canopy restored at Vatican basilica
- Zverev scrapes through, Djokovic cruises to Shanghai Masters last 16
- Trump secretly sent Covid tests to Putin: Bob Woodward book
- Gauff answers critics: 'It's hard to win all the time'
- Neural networks, machine learning? Nobel-winning AI science explained
- China says raised 'serious concerns' with US over trade curbs
- Boeing delivers 27 MAX jets in September despite strike
- German 'Maddie' suspect could be free in 2025 after cleared of other sex crimes
- Italy seek Nations League consistency as Germany continue rebuild
- From boom to budgeting as reality bites for Saudi football
- Stock markets diverge as Hong Kong sinks, oil prices fall
- US trade gap narrowest in five months as imports slip
- Stay and 'you are going to die': Florida braces for next hurricane
- England 96-1 after Salman's century lifts Pakistan to 556
- Hollywood star Idris Elba champions African cinema in Ghana
- Djokovic rolls Cobolli to make Shanghai Masters last 16
- Milan's Hernandez receives two-game suspension after referee rant
- Geoffrey Hinton, soft-spoken godfather of AI
- Ex-Barcelona and Spain great Iniesta retires aged 40
- Duo wins Physics Nobel for 'foundational' AI breakthroughs
- German 'Maddie' suspect could be free in 2025 after cleared of separate sex crimes
- China slaps provisional tariffs on EU brandy imports
Asian markets rebound on bargain-buying but tech worries linger
Asian equities edged higher Tuesday after recent losses as investors ignored another tough day for tech titans on Wall Street that has raised concerns about a correction in markets following a string of record highs.
Investors are also keeping tabs on Tokyo after Japan's top currency official warned authorities were ready 24 hours a day to intervene to support the yen as it sits around three-decade lows against the dollar.
With US data indicating the world's top economy remains in rude health and the jobs market still tight, investors remain unsure about the Federal Reserve's plans for interest rates, with debate centred on when -- or even if -- it will cut this year.
The focus is now on the release Friday of the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index -- the Fed's favoured inflation gauge -- with traders hoping for another slowdown that would give decision-makers room to start loosening policy.
Uncertainty surrounding rates has done little to hold back US equities as a blistering surge in tech giants -- fuelled by an explosion in all things linked to artificial intelligence -- has helped push the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to multiple records this year.
However, profit-taking and worries that the rally has gone too far has started to weigh on the sector, with the latest market darling Nvidia leading the losses by diving more than 15 percent from its high touched on Thursday.
The firm had briefly become the world's biggest publicly listed firm two days earlier, with a market capitalisation of more than $3.3 trillion.
The recent sell-off has led to fears of a contagion setting in, sending stocks into a downward spiral.
Still, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq retreated Monday, Asia enjoyed a positive start.
Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore and Manila were all in the green, though Wellington, Taipei and Jakarta inched down.
The yen strengthened, having edged close to 160 to the dollar Monday on fading expectations for a US rate cut any time soon and the Bank of Japan's slow pace of tightening.
The unit's weakness led vice finance minister Masato Kanda to reiterate officials' determination to step in with support, having done so in April after the currency hit 160.17 to the greenback.
However, some observers warn that the yen could fall to 170 as they say the impact of any intervention is usually short-lived.
"The pair continues to find resistance around the big (160 per dollar) figure with Japanese officials increasing verbal intervention," said National Australia Bank's Rodrigo Catril.
He added that the BoJ had left many investors disappointed this month when it delayed cutting back its bond-buying activities, which are used to keep borrowing costs down.
"After the BoJ failed to deliver... the market has been encouraged to increase the pressure on the yen given a BoJ too slow on its policy-normalisation process while the Fed stays higher for longer, waiting for the inflation data to make the case for easing."
The euro held its own against the dollar ahead of the first round of French elections this weekend.
President Emmanuel Macron called the snap legislative polls after his centrist party was trounced by the far-right National Rally (RN) in European Parliament elections two weeks ago.
The unit remains supported even as some opinion polls show the RN leading, with a left-wing alliance in second and Macron's centrists third.
- Key figures around 0250 GMT -
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.5 percent at 39,001.39 (break)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.5 percent at 18,120.43
Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 2,965.17
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 159.36 yen from 159.63 yen on Monday
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0734 from $1.0740
Euro/pound: DOWN at 84.59 pence from 84.61 pence
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2685 from $1.2689
West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.1 percent at $81.70 per barrel
Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.1 percent at $86.07 per barrel
New York - Dow: UP 0.7 percent at 39,411.21 (close)
London - FTSE 100: UP 0.5 percent at 8,281.55 (close)
P.Mathewson--AMWN